Connectors of the above type are known, are connected in a fully assembled position to a complementary connector to define an electric connecting unit, and substantially comprise an insulating casing having at least two longitudinal cavities for respective electric terminals.
Such connectors, hereinafter referred to for the sake of simplicity as “short-circuited connectors” also comprise at least one elastic short-circuit blade carried by the relative casing and normally set to an undeformed activating configuration connecting the terminals to prevent accidental activation of the air-bag system detonating device in the event the terminals are accidentally brought into contact with an electric source, or to prevent electrostatic discharge current flow through the detonating device.
When the short-circuited and complementary connectors are connected, the short-circuit blade is moved from the undeformed activating configuration to a deformed deactivating configuration in which it is detached from the terminals by an interacting portion of the complementary connector casing, and into which the short-circuit blade is moved when the short-circuited and complementary connectors are fully assembled.
Particularly when used in automotive safety systems, short-circuited connectors of the type briefly described above are subjected, before and during on-vehicle assembly, to long, painstaking tests as described below.
First of all, the short-circuited connector is connected to an auxiliary connector, the load of which is defined by a resistor with a predetermined resistance, to define a test assembly. The auxiliary connector is similar to the complementary connector and has an interacting portion which cooperates with the short-circuit blade to set and keep it in the deactivating configuration, i.e. detached from the relative electric terminals.
To determine any malfunctioning, a resistance measurement is made of the electric circuits defined respectively by the test assembly and by the short-circuited connector with the short-circuit blade in the activating configuration.
At this point, the auxiliary connector is removed, and the short-circuited connector is fitted to the complementary connector in the fully assembled position in which the short-circuit blade is set to the deactivating configuration, and a further resistance measurement is made to test correct connection of the connectors.
Finally, the auxiliary connectors of the connecting units fitted to each vehicle are collected in a container and counted by the operator once the vehicle is wired to further ensure all the connections have been made.